We're Off Again!

We just left this morning at about 7:10 for another trip south, hoping to get down to Southern California and Arizona if all goes well, for some of that warm sunshine on Doreen's Sore neck and back. We are sitting here in the cafe at the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal having breakfast waiting for the 9 AM ferry. We have to go this way, down through all the traffic of Seattle/Tacoma because the Coho Ferry to Port Angeles is out of service for it's annual refit. It's Saturday, though, so the traffic shouldn't be too bad (we hope!)

 

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Yep! We're on the 9 AM ferry all right!

 

We breezed through the border at the Peace Arch, with only a 5 or 10 minute wait, and only a couple of questions, like "Do you have any dog food." We've long ago learned not to bring stuff like that. It sure is a change from going through Port Angeles, where Miss Travellaire always seems to get a full body search!

 

The first order of business after crossing the border was to do battle with AT&T to get some data time so we can be on the internet when there is no Starbucks or MacDonalds within 50 feet for a WiFi connection. First we had to find a Target store, which we did in Bellingham, where we bought a VISA Gift Card to pay AT&T without them knowing I'm Canadian. Then it was off to a Starbucks to find a WiFi connection. And all by myself (I'm quite proud of this!) I managed to cajole AT&T into selling us lowly Canadians several gigabytes of time, even though they hate Canadians. It went so much smoother than the last trip, when I thought I had to do this at an AT&T store.

 

So much for thinking the traffic though Sea/Tac would be light on a Saturday! Enough said about that! We did make it through, however without any fender benders on Miss Travellaire's part, and we are now at one of our favourite places - Walmart. This one's in Longview, WA (N46 07 14.1, W122 55 52.5), which is less than an hour's drive north of Portland, OR. I made a blunder though. I always like to stay at a 24 hour Walmar where they have a security guy traveling around the parking lot all night. Usually "Super" Walmarts are open 24 hours, but this one closes at midnight even though it is a Super Walmart. Well, if you hear from us in the future, you'll know all went well.